I think I already know the answer, but I want to open up the floor to comments. 20-something women win Oscars all the time, but only one 20-something man ever has — just barely, as Adrien Brody was literally 22 days shy of his 30th birthday when he won.

I think it’s all about who makes and judges movies: predominantly straight men. From that point of view, admiring young and beautiful women may seem natural, while men valued for their youth and/or beauty might make them more uncomfortable or can’t to be taken seriously. Thus, female sexuality in movies can be praised as bold or brave by people who might be into that sort of thing, but Michael Fassbender strutting around naked in “Shame”? No thanks!

I think that might be a problem this year for Miles Teller, a heartthrob to a lot of young fans, Jack O’Connell, a heartthrob in the making, and maybe even Eddie Redmayne, who may not be considered a heartthrob, per se, but he was the dashing romantic hero of “Les Miserables,” and even though he’s on the right side of 30, he would still be one of the 10 youngest Best Actor winners ever.

It is very odd. It seemed hopeful in 2010 with some of the more younger nominees in a while. With Jesse Eisenberg was like 27, Jennifer Lawrence was 20, James Franco was 32, Natalie Portman was 29, Michelle Williams was 30, and Haliee Steinfeld was 14. Eisenberg really had a shot I thought at winning but Firth came along with the factor that he was almost 50 and beloved actor that was due so I think that hurt Eisenberg’s chances. I think that even came against Steinfeld against Melissa Leo that Steinfeld was only 14 and “had plenty of time to win” is the excuse I hear alot. I think the heart throb thing comes to play alot too that young men only really headline movies if they have that heart throb potential.

Movies are made by mostly middle-aged, straight, white men. Middle-aged, straight, white men want to see themselves as the protagonists. So more movies are made about men from ages 30-65. So more great roles are written for male actors in that bracket. Middle-aged, straight, white men also love younger women, so whenever there is a female protagonist or a female playing opposite the protagonist, she is usually around 22-40 years old.

Younger women are also deemed more “attractive” by society as a whole whereas men have a much longer shelf-life as far as their “attractiveness” goes.

Yes, yes, yes, there are always exceptions, bladdy bladdy blee. But this is all in general.

Young male actors have all the privilege they could want except assurance for recognition at award season. That is a small price to pay when your gender allows you access to roles and longevity in an industry always looking to push someone established out.

Let’s look at the average salaries of “young men” vs “young women”, up and comers and A listers, newbies and so on. With rare exception, they dont compare. The Y chromosomes lead the way here.

I suppose the young vivacious lady ingenues intrigue the movie-going audience; especially if they’re also perceived as virgins; although, I’d say there are some major exceptions out there where innocence is concerned. Lol.

Young men dont have the same pressure when it comes to aging, turning forty, or even wanting to direct, although lady directors are becoming less rare. They still have a hill to climb by comparison.

Anyways, if Awards are slanted in favour of young women, this can help raise their earning potential and equal the field a bit. I’m all for that.

Young male actors have all the privilege they could want except assurance for recognition at award season. That is a small price to pay when your gender allows you access to roles and longevity in an industry always looking to push someone established out.

So are you saying we should be punished for the gender we were born with and had no choice for? I never understand that arguement that a specific gender deserves to be punished because they just happened to be born that way. If you’re talented, you’re talented. That shouldn’t be a crutch at winning an award

There is definitely a percieved bias and it is harder for more youthful looking guys to be taken as seriously as some of their female counterparts (I don’t see much other reason to have lingering doubts about a Redmayne nomination this year), although, at the same time, it’s more difficult for those same women to find great roles as they age as opposed to once the men grow out of their baby stages and can often become Academy institutions a la Clooney/Pitt (unless you’re Meryl, but she wasn’t considered the standard young beauty when she started out compared to contemporaries like Lange).

So are you saying we should be punished for the gender we were born with and had no choice for? I never understand that arguement that a specific gender deserves to be punished because they just happened to be born that way. If you’re talented, you’re talented. That shouldn’t be a crutch at winning an award.

Hollywood is a patriarchy. You can’t feel sorry for men in a patriarchal system. They benefit after a certain age. While their female counterparts are shown the door.

Movies are made by mostly middle-aged, straight, white men. Middle-aged, straight, white men want to see themselves as the protagonists. So more movies are made about men from ages 30-65. So more great roles are written for male actors in that bracket. Middle-aged, straight, white men also love younger women, so whenever there is a female protagonist or a female playing opposite the protagonist, she is usually around 22-40 years old.

Younger women are also deemed more “attractive” by society as a whole whereas men have a much longer shelf-life as far as their “attractiveness” goes.

Yes, yes, yes, there are always exceptions, bladdy bladdy blee. But this is all in general.

I think the Academy respects age in all categories and wants people to pay their dues. Look how much trouble the very young Spielberg had getting nominations.

The reason more women win when they are young is because there is often very little competition from older actresses since most of the time they don’t get roles.

That’s right. They have to take young actresses seriously because they have no other choice. There are fewer strong roles for older actresses. And when an older actress has survived in the industry and is popular enough to continue getting leading roles, she is usually already an Oscar winner.

Young men receive less recognition than younger women because they have to compete with many older men who have no difficulty getting great parts. Also, actors (of any gender) tend to mature and get better with age. The performance is usually deeper when you’re in your 40s instead of your 20s, especially when we’re talking about dramatic material.